Thread: Russia launches Ukraine invasion

I am afraid many other people considerably more prominent than I thought the same thing- that war could have been prevented by the application of simple common sense, and Diplomacy. The fact that it wasn't is your national shame- but I suppose you must be getting used to that by now.

Originally Posted by malmomike77

Russia has barely used its airforce.

Are you still peddling bullshit? At least the three stooges are ideological halfwits . . . you?

Originally Posted by sabang

I am afraid

Yes, that's obvious. Weren't you going to live in Russia?

Originally Posted by misskit

Top Pro-Russian Official Shot Dead in Ukraine’s Kherson

A former deputy who switched allegiance from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the occupying Russian forces in the southern region of Kherson has been shot dead, Russian investigators said Monday.

Bright spots among the mayhem

Originally Posted by sabang

I am afraid many other people considerably more prominent than I thought the same thing- that war could have been prevented by the application of simple common sense, and Diplomacy. The fact that it wasn't is your national shame- but I suppose you must be getting used to that by now.

Is that comment directed at Herr Putin?
If so, well done in your ever changing thought process.

STAFF WRITER WITH AFP AUGUST 30, 2022


The Russian army on Monday said it had thwarted Ukrainian offensives in the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv and inflicted “heavy losses” on Kyiv’s forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered his troops to launch attacks in three directions, but “this latest attempt at offensive operations by the enemy has miserably failed,” the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

It added that the Russian army had destroyed 26 tanks, 32 armored vehicles, and two Su-25 jets and that the Ukrainians had lost more than 560 soldiers.
AFP was unable to independently verify the claims.

Earlier Monday, local authorities in Ukraine said Kyiv had launched a counter-offensive in the south to repulse Russian troops across the Dnipro River and retake the occupied city of Kherson.

Russian Army Says Foiled Ukraine Attacks in Kherson

The Russians and its shills are in propaganda overdrive, shoveling the horseshit.

AFP stands for Agent France Presse child. Along with AP & Reuters, it is one of the three main western press agencies. But of course, now that they are reporting something you do not want to hear, they too are Russian propagandists. Will you ever grow up?

^
But they are reporting what Russia "said", and Russia lies.

Let's wait and see, shall we? Or are you secretly embedded in the war zone?

The guy in the video linked here is there.


US war-gamed with Ukraine ahead of counteroffensive and encouraged more limited mission

Washington (CNN)In the buildup to the current Ukrainian counteroffensive, the US urged Kyiv to keep the operation limited in both its objectives and its geography to avoid getting overextended and bogged down on multiple fronts, multiple US and western officials and Ukrainian sources tell CNN.


Those discussions involved engaging in "war-gaming" with Kyiv, the sources said -- analytical exercises that were intended to help the Ukrainian forces understand what force levels they would need to muster to be successful in different scenarios.


The Ukrainians were initially considering a broader counteroffensive, but narrowed their mission to the south, in the Kherson region, in recent weeks, US and Ukrainian officials said.


Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told CNN that "the United States has routine military-to-military dialogue at multiple levels with Ukraine. We will not comment on the specifics of those engagements. Generally speaking, we provide the Ukrainians with information to help them better understand the threats they face and defend their country against Russian aggression. Ultimately, the Ukrainians are making the final decisions for their operations."

Officials say they believe there is now increased parity between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. But western officials have been hesitant to label the nascent Ukrainian operation -- which appeared to begin on Monday in the southern province of Kherson -- a true "counteroffensive."


How successful Ukraine is likely to be in regaining lost territory remains an open question, sources familiar with the latest intelligence tell CNN. Ukrainian officials have already said this offensive will likely be a slow operation, and punishingly cold winter weather is coming and then an early spring mud, both of which could force pauses in the fighting.

MORE/ VIDEO US wargamed with Ukraine ahead of counteroffensive and encouraged more limited mission - CNNPolitics

Originally Posted by pickel

But they are reporting what Russia "said", and Russia lies.

Something that sadly must be constantly pointed out.

Originally Posted by sabang

Let's wait and see, shall we?

In the meantime, spare us the horseshit that the Russian MOD is spewing.

Even MSM is backpedalling now snubmeister. See kitty's linked article above. Not such horseshit, maybe.

Originally Posted by sabang

See kitty's linked article above. Not such horseshit, maybe.

The article in no way said anything close to the lies you posted from the Russian MOD. Based on your comment, I doubt you actually read the article. No backpedaling whatsoever, as usual you are full of horseshit.

"I don't think it's possible yet to confirm the extent of Ukrainian advances, but they've certainly impacted Russia's ability to move north and south across [the Dnieper River] with their attacks on bridges," the senior NATO official said on Wednesday. "And in terms of future prospects, I'd note that Ukraine is much closer to parity in troop numbers in Kherson than it has been in recent weeks" in the eastern provinces of the country, where fighting has ground on for months.

Attacks in Crimea have been a particularly smart strategy, one official said, because Russia has been using the peninsula as a launchpad for its operations in southern Ukraine.

Russia has also been forced to pull resources from the east "simply because of reports that the Ukrainians might be going more on the offense in the south," John Kirby, the communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said on Monday.

"And so they've had to deplete certain units ...in certain areas in the East in the Donbass, to respond to what they clearly believed was a looming threat of a counter offensive," Kirby said.

No backpeddling.

Russia is suffering “severe manpower shortages” in its 6-month-old war with Ukraine and has become more desperate in its efforts to find new troops to send to the front lines, according to a new American intelligence finding disclosed Wednesday.

Russia is looking to address the shortage of troops in part by compelling soldiers wounded earlier in the war to return to combat, recruiting personnel from private security companies and even recruiting from prisons, according to a U.S. official who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss the downgraded intelligence finding.

The official added that the intelligence community has determined that one step that Russia’s Defense Ministry is expected to take soon is recruiting convicted criminals to enlist “in exchange for pardons and financial compensation.”

The U.S. government highlighted its finding as Russian President Vladimir Putin last week ordered the Russian military to increase the number of troops by 137,000 to a total of 1.15 million.

Putin’s decree, which takes effect on Jan. 1, didn’t specify whether the military would beef up its ranks by drafting a bigger number of conscripts, increasing the number of volunteer soldiers or using a combination of both. But some Russian military analysts predicted it would rely heavily on volunteers, a cautious stand reflecting the Kremlin’s concerns about possible fallout from an attempt to increase the draft.

The presidential decree aims to boost the overall number of Russian military personnel to 2,039,758, including 1,150,628 troops. A previous order put the military’s numbers at 1,902,758 and 1,013,628, respectively, at the start of 2018.

Colin Kahl, the U.S. Defense Department undersecretary for policy, told reporters earlier in August that the U.S. estimates Russia took heavy casualties in the first months of the war.

“There’s a lot of fog in war, but I think it’s safe to suggest that the Russians have probably taken 70 or 80,000 casualties in the less than six months,” Kahl said. “Now, that is a combination of killed in action and wounded in action and that number might be a little lower, a little higher, but I think that’s kind of in the ballpark.”

The U.S. has frequently downgraded and unveiled intelligence findings over the course of the grinding war to highlight plans for Russian misinformation operations or to throw attention on Moscow's difficulties in prosecuting its war against Ukraine, whose smaller military has put up a stiff resistance against the militarily superior Russian forces.

The Biden administration unveiled findings earlier this week that Russia has faced technical problems with Iranian-made drones acquired from Tehran this month for use in its war with Ukraine.

Russia picked up Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles over several days this month as part what the Biden administration says is likely part of a Russian plan to acquire hundreds of Iranian UAVs for use in Ukraine.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday that Russia has been having “some difficulties” and experiencing “the limits on some of the capabilities” of the Iranian drones since receiving them.

US: Russian military facing 'severe manpower shortages'

Originally Posted by sabang

<snip> war could have been prevented by ...

... by Putin not invading a Sovereign Country

Russian oil executive Ravil Maganov dead after reportedly falling from hospital window


The chairman of a Russian oil giant which called for the end to the war in Ukraine has died after falling from a hospital window in Moscow, according to reports.
Key points:

• Lukoil chair Ravil Maganov was reportedly being treated at a Moscow hospital when he fell
• The company he worked for, Lukoil, called for the war in Ukraine to end shortly after Russia's invasion
• The 67-year-old's death is the latest in a string of mysterious deaths of high-profile Russian executives

Lukoil chair Ravil Maganov, 67, was being treated at the city's Central Clinical Hospital, according to Russian media.
In a statement the company confirmed Mr Maganov's death, but said it was the result of a "severe illness".
His is the latest in a string of mysterious deaths of high-level Russian executives.
In May Alexander Subbotin, a former senior manager at the same oil company, Lukoil, reportedly died in unusual circumstances, according to the BBC.
Lukoil, which is Russia's second-largest oil producer, called for the war in Ukraine to end shortly after Moscow's army invaded.
Mr Maganov joined Lukoil in 1993 and became chairman in 2020.
He began at Lukoil as an oil operator, according to the company, and rose to management within a few years.


https://www.xxx.xxx.xx/news/2022-09-01/russian-oil-executive-ravil-maganov-dies/101397754

Russia's goal in Ukraine is to get rid of an "anti-Russian enclave" in the neighboring pro-Western country, President Vladimir Putin said at an open lesson on the first day of school Thursday more than six months into the invasion.


"They began creating an anti-Russian enclave on Ukrainian territory that threatens our country," Putin said at the lesson dubbed "Conversations About Important Things."


"That's why our guys who fight there protect both the residents of [separatist eastern Ukrainian territory] Donbas and Russia itself," Putin said at an event aimed at instilling patriotism and civi education among Russian schoolchildren.

Ukraine War: As It's Happening - The Moscow Times

China Visa Alternative Cuts Off Russian Banks Over Sanctions

China’s UnionPay paymentsystem has stopped accepting cards issued by Russian banks under Western sanctions over fears of penalties, the RBC news website reported Friday, citing financial industry sources.


Demand for UnionPay cards in Russia surged following Visa and Mastercard’s exit in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.


A number of major Russian banks subsequently announced plans to issue cards via UnionPay, which has only a small international presence.


“UnionPay limited acquiring and issuing partnerships with sanctioned banks on its own initiative,” RBC quoted an unnamed payment sector source as saying.


“In particular, acceptance of UnionPay cards was restricted by verbal notification.”


A banking source attributed the informal ban to fears of secondary sanctions, saying UnionPay cards had stopped working for Russians as early as the spring.


UnionPay refused to cooperate with Russia’s biggest lender, state-owned Sberbank and suspended talks with other banks for fear of incurring secondary sanctions, RBC reported in April.


Russians who obtained UnionPay cards from Russian banks have since reported difficulties with making payments in the U.S., Israel, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.


China has not joined Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and refused to criticize Moscow.


But, despite boosting the amount of energy that it buys from Russia, China has largely complied with Western sanctions, reportedly cutting back on car, smartphone and other exports to Russia.

China’s Visa Alternative Cuts Off Russian Banks Over Sanctions – RBC - The Moscow Times

Russia’s banking sector lost 1.5 trillion rubles ($24.8 billion) in the first half of 2022, a top Central Bank official said Friday.


This is the first time the Central Bank has disclosed financial results since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.


“The loss-making banks lost 1.9 trillion rubles and profit-making banks made 400 billion rubles,” Dmitry Tulin, the Central Bank’s first deputy chairman, told the RBC news website in an interview.


“Thus, algebraically, we get a total loss of 1.5 trillion rubles,” Tulin said.


The Central Bank stopped publishing figures for the banking sector after the start of the war and banned lenders from publishing regular earnings reports as Western governments froze Russia’s financial assets abroad and imposed sanctions on Russia’s banks.


The loss for the Russian banking sector is the first in seven years, RBC reported.


Tulin said one-quarter of Russian banks posted losses in January through June, while three-quarters remained profitable.


Two-thirds of first-half losses in 2022, or 1 trillion rubles, related to foreign currency operations, according to Tulin.


“We can say that we’ve managed with few casualties so far,” he told RBC, noting Russian banks still had 7 trillion rubles ($116 billion) in reserves.


“A smaller part of this capital reserve has been used as a result of these losses. That’s not the most expensive price for overcoming the consequences of the powerful blow dealt to our banking system by sanctions,” Tulin said.


The banker forecast Russia’s banking sector to close out 2022 with losses of 1.5 trillion rubles or less.

Russian Banks Post Record $25Bln First Half Loss - The Moscow Times

Originally Posted by David48atTD

... by Putin not invading a Sovereign Country

Seriously?

Originally Posted by sabang

Even MSM is backpedalling now snubmeister.

The snubmeister. Has a very nice ring to it.

Originally Posted by russellsimpson

The snubmeister. Has a very nice ring to it.

Yeah, if you're a retarded 14 year old.

Originally Posted by misskit

China has largely complied with Western sanctions, reportedly cutting back on car, smartphone and other exports to Russia.

Oh dear . . . the bromance isn't what it used to be

Originally Posted by misskit

Russia’s banking sector lost 1.5 trillion rubles ($24.8 billion) in the first half of 2022, a top Central Bank official said Friday.

Luckily everything is going well and sanctions are clearly not working

Originally Posted by David48atTD

The chairman of Russia's Lukoil oil giant, Ravil Maganov, has died after falling from a hospital window in Moscow, reports say.

The company confirmed his death but said only that Maganov, 67, had "passed away following a severe illness".

The illness was caused by not sufficiently kowtowing to Putin

Originally Posted by russellsimpson

The snubmeister. Has a very nice ring to it.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Yeah, if you're a retarded 14 year old.

I think Harry summed that one up.

Your sovereign country is no more. Bit like Yugoslavia.